The Blood of the Cursed
by Cathamaria
Summary: Alternate ending to episode 09 “The Blue-Eyed Prince”. In the series, Allen put his life on the line to save Hitomi from the Dragon Slayer's attack. But what would have happened had he not gotten there on time?


**The Blood of the Cursed**

_An Alternate ending to episode 09 "The Blue-Eyed Prince". Everyone remembers Allen putting his own life on the line when he placed himself and his mecha between Hitomi and the Dragon slayer's crimiclaw to take the blow. But did you ever wonder what would have happened had he not gotten there on time? _

Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne, the characters, or the plot... nor do I admit that this was how I hoped the series would come to an end...

Note: Sorry I rewrote the action scenes. I haven't watched any of the English or Japanese versions of Escaflowne for almost a year now, so I'm relying on my faulty memory and my own imagination. Sorry if I left something important out... like Merle... heh, I never did like her character much...

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The night was as dark as death's cloak. Only the light from the White Moon escaped the infinite black, giving the air an eerie glow. The shadows of trees were cast at odd angles, contorted by the pale light. All that Hitomi could hear was the pounding of her own heart and the rhythmic footsteps of the Escaflowne as she prayed they could pass through the forest safely. As they moved, the crystal on her pendant began to glow. "Van," she whispered, "we're not alone." The enemy could almost taste the fear in her words. "They've found us." There was nothing but silence now. Hitomi looked about and saw nothing, but she sensed their presence. The enemy was getting closer. Hitomi felt as if she and Van were being hunted.

"Where are they?" Van called from inside the Escaflowne. "I can't see them!" The Dragon Slayers were moving in for the kill, and their stealth cloaks kept their prey helpless like a blind animal. Hitomi closed her eyes. She could not be afraid. She had to find them. The pendant around her neck began to glow, the light pulsing in time to her own heartbeat.

"Where are they?" she whispered, and in the darkness, she saw the pendant move. "They're behind us!" Hitomi cried, and the Escaflowne, with Van inside, spun around with its sword drawn. From between the trees, the crimiclaw tore the air. Hitomi cried out as the sound of metal clashing with metal rang in her ears. Escaflowne lunged forward, the tip of its blade cutting through the enemy's metal armor. The energist died.

"How could they see me?" the pilot cried as he tumbled out of the gaimelef, scurrying for the cover of the trees.

"Damn! Dragon Slayers," Van spat. Hitomi cried out again.

"Look out in front of us!" Again, the Escaflowne's sword clashed with that of the invisible enemy. "To the left!" Hitomi screamed as a crimiclaw sliced air above Escaflowne's left shoulder, only inches from where she rode atop the dragon armor. Van yelled as he brought the shield up cut the attack short. Hitomi could see where the Slayers would launch their assaults one by one, but she didn't know how many there were. "This won't work," she whispered.

"Hitomi, hold on!" Van shouted, giving her no more than a mere second to grab hold of the side of Escaflowne's headpiece before he broke into a run.

"If we run, we'll be caught!" Hitomi screamed, an air of panic rising in her voice, no matter how she tried to suppress it. "They can fly! They can see us, but we can't see them!" But Van did not slow down. The girl clinging on for life to the Escaflowne did not realize they were heading towards the river. When she did see the water, she understood. This was their tactical defense.

"Jump down!" Van yelled, and Hitomi obeyed, darting away between the trees on the riverbank. She watched as Escaflowne waded deeper into the water.

"Their stealth cloaks can't help them in the water," Hitomi said aloud to no one in particular. Indeed, the Slayers realized that and dropped their disguise, revealing themselves in the murky water. There were four of them left, each drawing a sword for the looming fight.

"Nice try, Dragon, but even being able to see us can't help you now!" That familiar voice rang out above the sounds of the mechanical gaimelefs and the clashing blades. It was Dilandau. He rushed at Van, and the light danced off their swords as they sparred beneath the White Moon. The reflections on the water seemed to mesmerize the night sky, and the stars began to glow.

A crimiclaw struck Escaflowne from behind, piercing the white armor. Hitomi cried out, but could do nothing to help expect pray. "Someone, please," she whispered, holding the pendant in her clasped hands. "Someone, please help us... help Van." The crystal began to glow, but it went unnoticed against the battle on the water. A second crimiclaw, from another Slayer, tore through Escaflowne's leg armor, holding it captive in the water. Van brought his sword to cut the metal cables, but a third crimiclaw appeared only to hinder his blade. The Escaflowne could not move.

"Dragon, you're mine!" Dilandau cried as he lunged forward at the now immobile White Dragon.

"VAN!" Hitomi cried. She closed her eyes, expecting the worst, but the sound of the Prince's scream was never heard. Instead, she opened her eyes as she heard Dilandau's irritated voice.

"What the hell?!"

"It's Allen!" Hitomi exclaimed no short of relief. She ran to the river's edge to watch as an airship flew over the edge of the precipice, and the Sherezad, with its dark regal cape, polished blade, and silver gallantry, jumped down to Van's aid.

"Hitomi!" Allen called as his gaimelef landed in the water. His sword cut the Escaflowne loose of the crimiclaws, and the nearly halted battle began again. Dilandau cursed, frustrated by the quick turn of events. Without hesitation he released his own crimiclaw in Van's direction, aiming for the heart, but instead he hit thick shield, and the sharp metal cable broke into thinner lines that sprayed in every direction. Hitomi's pendant glowed again, and the girl, standing at the edge of the river entranced by the battle, realized too late that she was standing in the line of misfire. She screamed.

"HITOMI!" Allen and Van cried out at the same moment, but neither reached her in time. The cold metal pierced her fragile body, driving her back against the rocks above the riverbank. Her cry rang across the night, and time around the water seemed to freeze. The battle froze. Dilandau drew back the shattered crimiclaw, and released the girl pinned to the rocks. No one dared to move.

"...Van... Allen..." Hitomi whispered, "I'm sorry." Her eyes closed, and she fell forward onto the cold ground. She did not move. The pendant, which had been in her hand, was no longer glowing. The crimson liquid carried it to the edge of the river. It stopped on the rocks, and melted into the silence. The dragon hunt would end tonight, but one girl's innocent blood tainted the water a deep, macabre red.

"That girl," Dilandau hissed as he signaled a retreat. "Was she the one?" The Dragon Slayers disappeared into the velvet darkness, taking with them the air tainted with the metallic scent of blood.

"Lord Folken." The boy entered the highest deck of the flying fortress.

"Dilandau," the man sighed, turning around. His metal prosthetic arm glinted beneath his cape. "There is something you have to report to me?"

"Yes." There was a long silence, and Folken could taste the bloodshed. "I killed the girl who came from the Mystic Moon." Folken let out another sigh.

"That was not how it was supposed to turn out."

"No sir. I aimed to hit the Dragon, but..." Folken shook his head at the Slayer.

"I would have preferred you taken the blood of the Prince, but without the girl, at least, the White Dragon no longer holds the power to interfere with the Zaibach and the Emperor's will. We need not worry anymore. There is no need to destroy the Dragon if the girl is gone... although, her power could have been useful had we a chance to bring her to our side." Folken poured out a glass of rice wine for himself and for his fellow commander. No more words were exchanged as they drank to the silencing of the Dragon, Escaflowne, or more so, the girl who gave it power.

"Hitomi!" Van jumped down from the Escaflowne, rushing to the water's edge. "Hitomi!" She did not answer. Allen had followed.

"Van," he said softly and solemnly, placing a hand on the Prince's shoulder, "she will not answer you." Angrily, Van tore himself from the knight's grip and went to retrieve the pendant. Returning, Allen looked at him with no less than the deep sorrow that stabbed at his heart. But Allen knew to step back, and allow Van to cope on his own with the fact that the girl they'd sworn to protect was now dead. Van spoke not another word as he reached out and turned Hitomi onto her back. Her face was pale, her skin was cold, and they knew that her emerald eyes would never open again to bless them with their radiance. The Prince placed the pendant around her neck and knelt beside her, his head hung in silent prayer.

"Why?" he hissed. "Why couldn't I have done something?!" Van grabbed his sword, still sheathed, and threw it across the rocky earth. It landed with a thud, the Fanelian emblem hidden by the dust.

"Van," Allen whispered, "there was nothing we could do. Fate acts too fast for us to impede."

"I know." The shadow of a merchant convoy above them covered the sky, and the knight's airship had joined it. They were coming to find the Prince, the knight, and the little lady. They were coming to save three lives from the depths of the Garriden Forests, but only two had made it.

"We can bring her back to Fanelia," Allen said quietly to Van, knowing exactly where the Prince's heart lied. Although Allen would have wanted to lay her to rest in his home kingdom of Asturia, he knew it was not he who Hitomi had loved. It was Van. "She should be buried with your country's royalty." Van nodded, acknowledging this as a request from his friend.

"She will be laid to rest beside my mother," he whispered, "within the temple of the Mystic Moon." Tears stained the ground at his feet. There was no worse fate for draconian blood. There was no greater curse than this. Van looked up at the night sky, where the White Moon and the stars worshipped the glowing Earth.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Allen said behind Van. "The place Hitomi called her home. I wonder if the people there know that she will not come back..." Van shook his head, kneeling again to pick up the girl who no longer resided with the living. Her weight was a light burden for a heavy heart.

"Perhaps her spirit will be free to return home."

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Eh, no comment. I hope I didn't ruin the plot too much... heh. sweatdrop Gomenasai. (--)( )(--) This is only my second Escaflowne fanfic, so don't flame me, please!


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